by BJ Hanlon
They had crossed the bridge and river that was heading almost southwest. The river was to their right. It moved quickly and made hearing difficult.
Edin nodded. “Let’s spread out,” he yelled. “I’ll take point. Everyone pair in twos and spread out behind me.”
“So, does that mean I’ve got the ginger hammer?” Dorset said.
Edin grinned, that was a good one. “The ginger hammer is yours.”
“Blasted teachers.”
Edin heard them all fall back as he started across the open field toward the tall mountain a few leagues ahead of them. It would take a few hours to get there and as they walked, he thought about fighting the dematian in Glustown. How it seemed to be near blinded in the dying sunlight. Hopefully the rising sun would do the same and give them an advantage.
They walked well into the night. Crickets and other bugs were out, though it seemed a bit early in the year. Or it would in Yaultan, but they were further south.
Heck, it was early to be planting though Yassima was doing that already.
Edin only caught glimpses of the others who had fanned out behind him. He heard Dorset trampling through the brush as if he were some sort of a wild oxen. The teacher couldn’t keep quiet if it were that or his life. Edin just hoped that no dematians were around.
The moon disappeared behind Falic Mount effectively making nearly everything black. He could see barely a few feet in front of his face and as the grass became sparsely interspersed with gravel, he whispered for everyone to surround him. He heard Feldspart and a few others call the pairs together. When everyone was around, he looked at their faces. Some of the men were young, no more than fifteen or sixteen. A few others were of a decent age, their thirties, but none looked to be in their prime.
“We need scouts. If this is Falic, we need to know what cave the dematians are coming from.”
Someone cleared their throat and Edin looked in that direction. It was one of the kids.
“Yes?” Edin said.
“My family farm is over yonder.” He pointed to the north a bit but Edin saw no house. Though he could barely make out the forest a few miles away. “The only cave on Falic is to the northwest. The entrance is almost fifty feet off the ground.”
Another said, “It’s a climb, a rather easy one.”
Edin glanced toward Dorset. He didn’t want to ask him right there if he could do something to close it up but Dorset just shook his head. Edin said, “We’ll have to climb I suppose.”
“Are you still afraid of heights?” Berka asked.
Edin didn’t respond to him. “They may have scouts or a camp around the mountain. We should split up and circle it from both sides.”
“And eliminate any demons we find,” said Feldspart.
Edin nodded. “You take the left; I take the right.”
“How many of my men do you want?”
“None,” Edin said. “We’ve got this.”
Someone snorted. “They’re bloody kids. They think they can handle—”
“Don’t worry about us.” Berka interrupted.
“It ain’t you I’m—”
“Don’t attack until sunrise,” Edin said. “They have poor vision at that time.”
“Are we certain of that?” Dorset asked.
Edin nodded, though he really wasn’t. He looked at Feldspart. “Good luck.”
“You too.”
They split off and began to cross through the field north. The land fell toward the river and the quarter moon blinked in and out from the mount like a bobbing boat on the sea. He could hear the river and smelled the damp earth all around them. They stayed low as the mountain loomed large to their left. It was an eerie feeling. Fieldstones then began to appear in the land and they crossed over what at one time had to have been a small rock wall to denote someone’s property, though it didn’t look like anyone had tended this place for a long time. They easily vaulted the stone wall and came face-to-face with a cold, black river.
“Anyone know where the headwaters of this thing are?” Edin said. It seemed to him that the river came directly from the mountain.
“I think we follow it and it circles around to the north.”
“Better than going across,” Edin said. He thought of the freezing trip across the Crys and his time in the water of the fjords. He did not want that repeated.
The moon was back out offering a bit more light on the landscape, though it still wasn’t much.
They followed the river again and after a bit the moon fled beneath a wash of clouds. Off to the left on a slightly higher rise, Edin heard the cracking of a branch.
Without a word, he began jogging toward the ridge. Edin kept searching, though without the moonlight, it was nearly impossible to see.
Behind, he could tell where his friends were and the dark outline of the ridge. To the left he could see a faint glowing light on the mountains. He thought it was a reflection of the moon on the snow caps.
The dark figure of Berka turned a bit to the right and began following the ridge. Edin looked up and saw sharp, jagged rocks hanging precariously over the edge of the embankment. Almost like murder holes filled with shrapnel. Suddenly, Berka stopped and Edin nearly crashed into him. Dorset crashed into Edin, smacking him in the kidney.
“What the heck?” Edin grunted.
“Shhh.” Berka hissed. He raised a hand and pointed a bit north. Edin followed the eye and saw something rounded above them. He couldn’t make it out, but then a moment later and just above them, a rock fell down rebounding off the wall and thumping Edin’s hip.
It wasn’t very heavy but it hurt and he fell to the side.
“Dematians,” Berka yelled and Edin looked up. A beast was standing above them on two legs. It was big. Too big.
Just then, the clouds seemed to part and he saw them. A line of them. Then the rounded figure stood; it too was big and he felt the wind picking up. The mage dematian…
Weapons were drawn and the dematian’s bared their needle-like teeth. Edin locked eyes on the one directly above them. The huge magi.
Dorset yelped but neither he, Berka, or Edin made any more movement toward the weapons. “How is your connection?”
“I feel it,” Dorset whispered. “There’s a lot of stone here.”
“Make it rumble.”
“I’m not Rihkar.”
“Just rock then,” Edin whispered. “And huddle up on me.”
It happened. Dorset raised a hand and suddenly, the ground in front of them shook. There were furious and confused chattering cries as rocks began to fall. Edin raised a hand as soon as the dematian above leapt toward them. Edin felt the culrian surround them. A moment later, the dematian landed on the shield and bounded off and into the rock wall. Other’s leapt down to their side, including the great rounded one. It was bigger than the others, easily nine, possibly ten feet tall and held a staff in one hand and a longsword in the other. The longsword looked almost like a knife in its grip.
Edin drew his sword and heard Dorset and Berka do the same. He released the culrian as the dematian that had been over them started to stand after being clattered into the wall.
It opened its mouth to call out something.
“No more from you,” Edin said and stabbed his sword through that mouth.
Berka backed up into Edin. The sound of a weapon whipping through the air came from that way. Edin glanced over and saw the giant dematian approaching. Its clawed toes ripping into the ground like they were pudding to his fork. “Take the others,” Edin said and put himself between Berka and the giant.
Edin felt the talent in this one. It was strong, the leader of the locals he guessed.
It roared. The bone breastplate, greaves, and gauntlets all rattled. Its coarse hair was braided and there were thin bones in it, forearms and ribs.
The gust attacked him. A large, powerful one and Edin nearly lost his balance. It was that or the thing’s breath that nearly knocked him on his butt.
Edin was able to
hold it with his own talent, though this guy was strong. Very strong.
Behind, swords rang out and the ground rumbled.
The dematian grumbled and chattered then attacked. It was fast and strong. Edin dodged the first slash down with the sword. Then it followed by spinning and bringing the thing’s staff up and around like a cartwheel. Edin saw it and prepared to block it with his own sword and then counter.
As the staff hit his blade, Edin’s hand stung and went numb. The sword nearly fell from his hand as Edin dropped to a knee.
The dematian’s sword was whipping around again in the same overhead cartwheel attack that’d brought the powerful staff down. Edin dove off to the right. There was a roar behind and he heard metal crush stone.
He got back to his feet a couple of feet from a smaller dematian who just seemed to have been watching. Edin screamed and slashed upward, catching the demon’s side and drove the blade up into the ribs. It dropped and Edin kicked it off.
He turned back as the giant one bull rushed toward him with its head down. Edin held out a hand and summoned a culrian around him. Or tried to. A moment later, there was a soft glow at the end of the staff. It was a slight red color and suddenly, the culrian seemed to break and the dematian swung its blade and staff in a scissor like motion.
For a split second, almost long enough to guarantee he was cut in two, Edin gawked. Then his instincts took over and he fell backward like a tree being felled. Then he began rolling. He spotted the blade and staff being adjusted toward him. He rolled again and then felt a rumbling. Rocks exploded in front of him and the beast leapt backward.
Edin kicked himself to his feet and heard a pained human scream. Fear rose up but Edin couldn’t even look that way. Not with the beast trying to kill him.
Edin felt a gust of wind trying to rise and fight him. Edin used his connection to the talent. He felt the wind coming and heard the large roar of a tornado. But Edin felt it, he sliced his blade upwards; with it and the talent, he split the tornado into two as they passed him. The dematian was concentrating on it, concentrating on holding it.
Edin roared and attacked.
The thing’s eyes opened and went wide. He brought the ironwood staff around again to try and batter Edin off into the ridge ten yards away.
A moment later, Edin blinked and felt the world slow.
He felt the ethereal power in his body and lashed out at the dematian’s clawed hand where it gripped the weapon. There was a blinding flash of light and a crunching sound followed by a loud chattering cry. The demon stumbled backward and to the right, the staff fell from its hand and the sword trailed it on the ground.
Edin dove toward it and drove the blade into its chest between what he was certain were rib bones. The dematian howled then went silent.
He took a breath as he looked down at his kill. Then remembered the human scream.
There were swords still clanking behind him. Edin spun and saw Berka surrounded by three dematians. All armed and all attacking at different times.
The boy was red and slowing; to the right, barely visible was a crumbled frame that wore Dorset’s clothes.
Anger flared through him and he summoned a pair of ethereal knifes. Edin launched them at two of the beasts and saw them get ripped into two. Berka hardly flinched.
The last one did. It screamed as Berka sliced down taking it from right shoulder to left hip. The beast dropped into two pieces. Edin raced toward Dorset and dropped down over him. His friend was bleeding badly from a wound to the leg and another to the upper chest. Edin quickly ripped off his tunic.
“Tie off the leg,” Edin said thrusting the shirt into Berka’s hands. A few moments later, he held his hands over Dorset’s chest. He closed his eyes.
“Eletanto,” he mumbled.
He could feel warmth in his hands but it was a dull warmth, like heat through frozen fingers. Edin shook his head; he needed to speak and not babble like a child. He cleared his throat and started again. “Eletanto!” he said more forcefully.
Beneath his hands, there was a warmth growing and he could almost feel pieces of the skin knitting back together. It went on for hours… or so it seemed. Edin sweated while he put all of his strength into the wound on the chest. He heard a gasp but didn’t stop.
He began to feel dizzy and confused. For a moment, he thought he was in a warm spring, and then transported to a cold mountain keep where his mind was frozen.
The equilibrium disappeared and Edin started to fall. He felt arms grabbing him and letting him down. Water was poured down his throat and suddenly someone was slapping him, not hard but with enough force to clear his head somewhat.
Edin blinked and looked up at Berka.
Berka said, “we cannot let the guards attack alone. They’ll be slaughtered. You two stay here. I’ll go meet them. We’ll destroy the dematians.”
Edin blinked up at him again. He wanted to speak but words wouldn’t work for a few moments. “Tunnel?” he finally whispered.
“We’ll figure something out.”
Edin couldn’t talk much more. He felt drained and then more water came into his mouth. He remembered the day in the forest where he rejuvenated himself. It was so long ago and it was out in the world. He felt the energy around and tried to summon it. But little would come to him. A moment later, he saw black.
Edin woke. The sun had just risen and he was wedged next to Dorset in a small crevasse beneath a large dirt overhang. He felt tired and his joints were sore but he was able to slowly rise and step outside.
To the east, he saw the walls of the city just over a small ridge. A flash of memory ran over him. A vision of the giant mage dematian and Dorset’s scream.
Quickly he moved back and dropped to Dorset’s side. He shook him. “Dorset?” His roommate’s breath was even and not labored. He checked the wound in the chest. It was covered in dried blood. Edin spit on a cloth and wiped it away. There was a small yellowish scar but nothing else. Then he moved to the leg. It wasn’t bleeding anymore but it didn’t look good and part of it was turning greenish yellow. Dorset needed a healer soon.
Then he heard screams. Shivers ran down his spine.
They were far off and barely heard like whispers across the room. But he did hear them and he knew what they were. He thought about the captain and Berka and their men, the ones that went into battle without him. He couldn’t leave them there.
“Dorset,” Edin said. “I need you to wake.” He smacked his friend’s face. He was hot and sticky with sweat. He pressed the back of his hand to Dorset’s forehead. He was more than hot and his friend needed help. They needed someone out here, someone who could get him and take him back to the city. If only Berka didn’t leave.
He thought, that there had to be some way to send a signal.
Then another flash of inspiration. Though he was still not back to complete strength, he had to try. Edin closed his eyes and felt the static in the air. He felt the rushing of power around him and thrust a hand into the air. Lightning crashed in his ears and split the early morning sky with wild and angry booms.
They crashed for nearly a full minute draining a bit more of Edin than he thought was wise. But it was for Dorset.
When Edin was done, there was silence all around. It was as if the battle and everyone had stopped to watch. That was good.
A moment later, it started again. He could hear men and dematians. Edin slowly started to pull Dorset a bit further out. There were dematian bodies all around including the giant one.
Edin separated them and grabbed a sword. He jammed it into the damp soil by Dorset’s head. He thought he heard horses coming from the city. He hoped he heard that; then he turned back northwest to Mount Falic. He grabbed the dematian’s ironwood staff and followed the trampled grass until he found a tight gap that lead up to the top of the escarpment. There were many handholds and he climbed it with ease.
At the top, he could see Carrow and hear the horses. He saw them crossing the grassland toward the river.<
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Edin turned back to the mountain and saw the northern side barely in view. Black figures were on the sides. Many black figures.
He started to run. He had no idea how long it would take though the sounds of steel on steel and human and animalistic cries of anger and fury and pain told him some men were still alive, and that gave him hope. It pushed him to run faster and faster.
A partially tree-covered hill rose before him and the mountain rose up from beyond it like a canine tooth.
His calves and thighs burned as he scampered up and between rows of tall pines that seemed like a fence. As he reached a small flat area, he saw across a great valley nearly half a mile wide to the battle. Edin dropped his hands to his knees and was panting and watching the fight. Bodies were on the ground. Guards and dematians. There were at least six humans left but more dematians. Many more.
Above them, he spotted the dark mouth of the cave and descending from it were more dematians. The way they were descending reminded Edin of a squirrel climbing down a tree.
The mountainous cliff meant nothing to them. Could they climb walls like that? What happened if they reached the actual city wall? Then he remembered them leaping over in Coldwater.
Yes, they probably could. He thought.
A large crash and furious cry echoed from the valley. Edin turned to see one of the men had dropped and more dematians were racing down toward them.
With Dorset out, he couldn’t close the cave and Edin was very low on energy. He caught his breath as best as he could and thought of the talent and the lightning strikes.
They were powerful but inaccurate. Then he remembered hitting the peak in Arianne’s keep. He wasn’t sure exactly where that was supposed to hit, but it did the job and dropped boulders down effectively crushing the courtyard and parts of her home.
As he watched the dematians screaming down the mountain toward the weary soldiers, Edin held out a hand. In it, the electricity cracked. Then it was pulsing through the air and crackling next to his head. Then he whipped out his hand. A bolt, a yellow bolt, one he hadn’t seen before erupted from it and instantly crashed into the mountain side.
